International CES and exhibitors step up their presence

Taking over all three halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), International CES ended on Jan. 10, leaving Las Vegas with an estimated $200 million in non-gaming economic impact.

International CES attendees at Las Vegas Convention Center

Called by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President Gary Shapiro the largest in its 46 years, the consumer technology and innovation tradeshow featured more than 3,200 exhibitors who used the entirety of the convention center’s 2 million square feet of exhibition space. Also, more than 150,000 attendees lined the halls, outdoor area and show floors of the 3.2 million square feet LVCC.

Designed by MC2

The convention center became the hub of back and forth transportation vehicles, picking up and dropping off attendees at official CES venues, Las Vegas Hotel (LVH) and the Venetian Resort and Casino. Other CES-related events were hosted at neighboring hotels and on the Las Vegas Strip.

What many exhibitors had in common was that they leveraged their booth’s design, products or location to stand out on the show floor in the midst of this busy atmosphere, with competition nearby.

Within its MC2 (MC-squared) designed booth, VUSE, a digital vapor cigarette company, made its presence known on the show floor. Reflecting VUSE’s brand message of simple, intuitive and effective were the clean, open and simple designs of its booth with splashes of red.

To attract people to its booth, RJ Reynolds, the parent company of VUSE, catered to the audience at CES. Using iPads that were loaded with information about its products was one of its technological strategies.

“We are further in the back of the hall than some of the other products, but that is almost working to our advantage because some of the folks who are looking for us know where we are. People have asked where we are because they want to check out our technology,” added Zukowski.

At the tail end of the South Hall of the convention center, Liquipel, which makes water-safe devices, wasn’t bothered by its location. The company’s Spoon Exhibits and Events- designed booth was already bringing in crowds.

“Our booth is really eye catching, aesthetically pleasing and it illustrates our technology. I noticed people are really impressed with our water wall; it pulls them in to nice, cool humid air. It’s a nice place to be,” explained Jamie Knowles, art director, Liquipel. “We have a good presence here, very busy. We had Pharrell [Williams] come out yesterday, which was unbelievably successful, so we’re getting a lot of exposure.”

Designed by Pinnacle Exhibits

Near the center-back of South Hall, Belkin, a manufacturer of consumer electronics, used its Pinnacle Exhibits-designed booth to illustrate its March 2013 acquisition of Linksys, a provider of data networking hardware products.

“With the acquisition of Linksys, it was important to showcase that brand and two companies being joined as one. You can see the big Belkin and Linksys sign from anywhere in the hall,” said Nathan Lee, senior account manager for New Zealand, Belkin.

To tell the story of its products, Belkin doubled its booth size from last year’s CES.

“What you see here is more than we have ever done. Belkin wanted to step up its presence this year to showcase the company moving forward and showcase a lot of our new stuff,” Lee explained.

Designed by Sacks Exhibits

Coming to CES with a booth designed by Sacks Exhibits, iRobot said it loved its show-floor location.

“This is the biggest booth that we’ve ever had. It’s close to the entry; that’s always a good thing. As people walk in, we’re one of the first booths they’re going to come across,” said Charles Vaida, manager of corporate communications, iRobot. “Location and the way the booth is constructed are good things for this year.”

A builder of robots for the health care, defense and enterprise industry, the company’s robots also attracted attention to the booth.

“People come here and see things moving. They see things performing jobs they don’t necessarily like to do. They see that it’s a robot and think about how often they have heard about them,” added Vaida.

International CES is owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). This year’s show ran from Jan. 7-10. In 2015, the tradeshow will be held from Jan. 6-9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.